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At the end of trip - how long to stay in Milan before flight out

Our family of 4 is traveling this winter holiday season. For the most part my itinerary is set and is as follows:

Rome: 7 days (Dec. 19-26)
Pompeii: 2 days (Dec. 26-28)
Tuscany: ??? days… right now I have 7 days. (Dec. 28-Jan 3)
Fly out from Milan January 4.

I decided to fly out of Milan in a moment of weakness - I thought "hey, we've never been to Milan, let's go in the morning before, spend the overnight and fly out". I kind of regret it - but with 4 tickets bought, I will not be changing it. We plan to drive up from Tuscany and drop the car on Jan 3 - then the morning of the flight we will train to the airport - leaving just after noon.

Now I'm wondering if we should spend just 1 night (being the overnight before our flight) or 2 nights in Milan. I expect that while there, we will see the Duomo and try to see the Last Supper. Other than that, not so sure….ideas? thoughts? maybe while up there go to Lake Como for an afternoon before going to Milan while we still have the car. I don't know...

I'm not sure I would do a full week in Tuscany at that time of year. Yes, you can still see the hill towns - but the countryside will be grey and dreary - likely rain and snow possible - and fairly short days - so you might end up driving home in the dark every afternoon. How old are the "kids" - young adults or little ones. If the latter they might get really bored.

Milan has some outstanding museums (Leonardo da Vinci, Brera, etc.) But you must of course be interested in. You may also visit the castle (with lots of small museums and exhibitions).
The weather is unpredictable for this season: temperatures above 10 degrees centigrade, bright sunshine, thick fog, rainfall, snowfall, everything is possible.

That time of year I would drive to MXP directly for your last nite---it is 30 miles west of Milan downtown---and skip Milan.

We have twice used Hotel First near the airport---thye have a very good shuttle to use.

I agree that a week is too much that time of year in Tuscany. I would split that time with a coastal destination since you have to drive to Milan anyway. Look at Santa Margherita or Camogli. Also consider Parma as your interim stop if the weather is not good for coastal sights.

We flew out of Milan one trip last year and having travelled all over Italy it was our least favourite place. The duomo was lovely and I wish we could have gotten tickets to the last supper (reserve as soon as you can!). We are spend 1 night there again the end of this month so maybe it will grow on us.

Hi -- I live in Italy and Tuscany is quite beautiful during winter (nytraveler has been asked many times to stop repeating her fibs and fantasies because she has actually never been to Tuscany in winter). But the notion that the solution that the Italian Riviera is the answer is to put it mildly nuts. I live where Bobthenavigator is telling you to go and last year at Christmastime I had to cancel all my holiday dinner plans because of category 3 alert rainstorms and floods.

You do need to be flexible about your plans for Italy at that time of year because of the weather and especially you should not plan your last days around the idea that the weather will be good enough for you to take a long drive north to catch a plane.

I highly recommend that you stick to at least 4 or 5 days for Tuscany because you might not be able to be out driving every day and staying enough days to make sure of some sunny dry days makes sense. You will not run out of things to do if you base yourself in a big enough town like Montepulciano or Cortona. (I would recommend Cortona because you can also visit many interesting towns in Umbria from there fairly easily.) But after that I would drop off the car in Florence and either spend some time there or Bologna or Milan (depending on your family's interests) but stick to using trains. Seeing Lago di Como as a day trip if the weather is fine is a great idea (bundle up) or you can also go to Verona.

But don't book yourself into the Italian Riviera in December. And I would get rid of the car in Tuscany.

Definitely stay in Milan itself and not the remote airport your last day - the Duomo is magnificent and the town center exudes that Italian sophistication and elegance - Milan gets a bad rap for some reason - that said I would not spend two nights there - you may want to go to Lake Stresa instead of Lake Como - Stresa would make a great small-town base from which to drive or take trains or I think buses to the airport.

Just offshore are the famous three Borromean Islands that kids will like - at least taking boats between them - a different surprise on each of the three islands.

But do not put off staying in Milan - the town center is as nice as any IME - it's kind of in to trash Milan I think.

We spent a day/night in Milan for the first time a few years ago (in February) and really enjoyed it. The Duomo is magnificent and we got tickets for the Last Supper. It was quite mild (sat outside in cafes) and we were very glad we went.

Another consideration is basing in Lucca for your Tuscan portion - easy to do day trips (although perhaps a little far to towns like Cortona) and lots to do in the town if the weather is dodgy. We spent a month there in February 2013 - loved it!

we love to fly out of milan so that we can get a pop of the duomo area once again. stay as close to the duomo as you can and just enjoy all the areas around it. (we stay at the very inexpensive 'hotel rio' which is spittin' distance from the duomo, but it is just one level above a backpacker hotel... but clean, of course.)

you won't want to miss walking on the roof of the duomo... it's like a museum in itself. our favorite thing in milan, other than ice cream from nearby 'ciocolati italiani' !! (i do judge cities by their gelato offerings...)

i think it would be just a bit frantic if you drive up, drop the car, get into the city, then try to see everything you want to see that afternoon (while thinking about packing for your flight home... last minute souvenirs, etc...) i would do 2 nights, which would really only be 1 full day.

If staying in the historic town center you can take an airort express train from the Cardona station to Malpensa - rather than having to go to hectic Milan Centrale, farther away from the town center than the secondary Cardona station (sp?) - taxis take you right up to the train doors practically.

I am remiss - I did not explain more about our party or our plan for Tuscany. Our 2 children are 12 and 17. Our last trip with the girls was crazy - but wonderful - 4 countries in the same break time frame. This time, I wanted to slow it down a bit. In Tuscany we have reserved an apartment in Montepulciano, (which I suppose is not technically Tuscany or is it??) and will tour Siena, Assisi, Volterra and Florence as day trips from there. I do realize that our daylight hours will be limited and that we may encounter weather issues, but my husband does feel comfortable driving even in challenging conditions. Likewise, we learned about parking and "no-go" zones the hard way last time and will not make the same mistakes again. For a family of 4, travel by car is just so much more economical - in most cases - than travel by train.

We have been to Parma before - loved it - but would rather do something new. Verona sounds interesting….On our last trip Verona was a stop that we just didn't have time to make. So maybe either Verona on the way up or Como. Oh such good ideas!

We did a meat feast for NYE and had a fabulous time at this osteria in Montepulciano http://www.acquacheta.eu we reserved in October and got some of the last two seats so be sure you make reservations far in advance. We went into town early for a drink and literally the only place open before 8pm was a dreary cafe. Every other place was closed preparing for their set menu dinners etc.

Meant to add volterra is at least a two hour drive from montepulciano...that is too far for us to consider for a day trip so you may want to rethink 4 hours in a car for day trip and look at some of the lovely towns closer to your base.

Sorry - but how in the world do you know where I have been and when? I was not aware that we were close friends - nor that you have had the itineraries of my more than 100 trips to eruope over the last 30 years. And I would like to know exactly what "fibs and fantasies" you are talking about that I have been "asked repeatedly to stop".

As for recommending going to the Italian riviera - I never said any such thing. You apparently have me confused with someone else. As you are confused about many things.

I have been in Tuscany in late fall - granted end of November not Dec - and it was NOT pleasant outdoors. It was rainy and quite chilly - and frankly the type of weather when one would want to be in a city and not the countryside.

I did ask the OP about their kids. What might be doable with older ones could be a huge PIA with younger ones who want to be out running around.

As for the weather in northern Italy at Christmas a very close friend of mine was in Venice for a week and it rained on 6 days and snowed on the 7th. I recognize that this does not happen every year. But it did happen that year - and you can get substantial rain, mist, fog and just nastiness any time during the winter in any year.

Making up stories about where I have been - and when - will not change the fact that the OP has the chance of having a very damp, dreary holiday. If they look at the statistical data from a non-partisan 3rd party weather source - and decide they want to do it - that's their decision. But it's not fair to intimate that the weather/countryside is beautiful the whole winter.

(A quick look at a weather site shows that Dec has the most rain with 8 days and the high temps for Dec are 44 and for Jan are 42). Not really cold for a winter in the US - but raining and 40 isn't really conducive to country pursuits either.)

Further to jamikins comment, Florence would also be close to 2 hours each way when you consider that you have to park at the edge of the historical center and then walk/taxi to the main sights. Assisi would probably be 90 minutes each way.

I haven't been to Tuscany in December, but one winter weather problem could be late evening/early morning dew or frost that would make for treacherous walking in Montepulciano. We found in late October that evening dew made many of the steep streets extremely slippery. Depending on where your apartment is located v/v where you park the car, you might not get as early a start on the day as planned if you need to wait for the temp to rise a little.

I didn't realize that Volterra was such a haul. That's good to know. I still think that we will make that haul, but it will certainly be weather dependent. To be candid, we do 2 hour trips (each way) often. We live about 2-2.5 hours out of Chicago and often travel into the city for a day of shopping, museums or even the theatre. I think sometimes that things are relative, right?

Similarly, we live in the 'snow belt' of the midwest in the US. Last year we had over 130 inches (3.3 meters) of snow in December, January and February- so for us rain and dreary sounds like a dream! Even a bit of snow is not a particular challenge.

With that said, cautionary considerations are always welcome. To have an idea of the challenges that others have faced is invaluable.

jujubean I recently had 5 days in Milan and intend to go back one day. I loved it! It was a great hop off point for day trips to the Lakes but Milan itself was great. The shopping (I not talking designer) was really good too. There are some very impressive museums and I had booked my ticket to view The Last Supper fresco. The Milan Duomo was stunning. I didn't get to walk the roof but have it down as my "next time" activity.

There are so many wonderful towns near Montepulciano that we never found the need to leave the area. We just don't like wasting time in the car when we can be enjoying the villages, especially in potentially bad weather.

First, Milan. We really like the city and think it's worth two nights. If they like shopping, you might set them loose in La Rinascente department store for an hour or so. La Rinascente is also a nice place to have lunch as you get a direct view of the Duomo's roof.

FWIW, when we were there in May of this year, we stayed at the NH President and give it big thumbs up. It's a short walk to the Duomo and galerias (about 5 mins), right next to one of the main taxi stands, and the rooms are very comfortable and have big balconies.

As for Tuscany being damp and dreary, nuts. Damp maybe, dreary no way! I love driving around Europe at that time of year and there's a special vibe to European villages, towns and cities when it gets dark early. (And I side with Sandralist -- nytraveler is also addicted to spouting rubbish about Basel which I know a LOT better than she does [I live there]).

My husband and I spent four days in Milan during the Christmas season. My husband went to university in Milan, but I had been there before only for brief visits. We had a wonderful time, and didn't get to do all the things we wanted to.

Many of the trams of Milan were decorated with Christmas lights; some of them were fitted out with tables and served dinner. The Grande Naviglio (Great Canal) was also decorated with lights and was very festive. There are some great restaurants and bars at the canalside. There were always traditional musicians in the Piazza del Duomo, playing traditional Italian Christmas music.

As mentioned, the Brera Gallery is one of Italy's great museums, although it's not very large. The Sforza Castle has several museums inside the castle grounds, but this is one of the things we didn't get to explore very much. There were several great temporary exhibits while we were there, including a special exhibit of Leonardo da Vinci's John the Baptist, from the Louvre. (Of course, that wouldn't be there again this year, but it's an example of some of the cultural opportunities you usually have in Milan.) There are also several very early Christian churches in Milan, including the beautiful 12th century Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, the patron saint of Milan.

If you visit the duomo, don't miss the opportunity to go up to the upper terraces to see the fantastic Gothic sculptures on the roof. (You can also get a good view of the roof from the dining terrace on the upper floor of the Rinascente department store, which is also a great place to shop.)

In Italy, the Christmas season ends with Epiphany (Twelfth Night), so everything will still be festive when you're there.

We had such a wonderful time in Milan, that we're planning to return there this coming year, also to see an opera at La Scala.

Yes it's cool to trash Milan but as several above say it can be as fun and interesting as any Italian city outside of the big 3 - Venice, Florence and Rome - folks who never looked around Milan much and see the things like bvienci and others mention have given it short shrift and then trash it as, outside the Duomo and the Last Supper, not even worth a day before your flight - how myopic that is IMO - I've stayed in Milan for days and always found it a fascinating place - some neat parks too.

I think that our plan will be to spend the last 2 nights in Milan. We really do want to see the Duomo and Last Supper, maybe the Brera ---and I think kawh nailed it - it would just be too hectic to drive up to Milan and try and see everything in one afternoon, then scramble to the airport the next morning - particularly when it gets dark earlier. As we all know - 2 nights is only one day and it will take a full day to see those 2 things I think.

So now the question is where to drop the car ….I'll check into Cardona and some other options. But certainly ideas are welcome!!

we like to drop in the nearest city that has a car place right by the train... but you could drop at the airport. if you want to drive into the city, i know there are places right by the main train station. i would talk to the car rental place (we use kemwel) by phone and find out where you can drop with little fee and with a train within a block or so. some places are closed saturdays, some sundays etc etc. i would go by ease of dropoff and plan from there. after that, easy metro into city center and off you go!

Be advised that there is a massive reconstruction project going on around Milano Centrale, which has affected parking, taxi access, drop-offs etc. Fingers crossed that it will be finished by December, but no guarantees...

I'm glad you decided to stay 2 nights in Milan -- we really enjoyed the city and found it an interesting city. It's not the quaint cities of the big 3, but it has a lot of wonderful architecture and plenty to see and do.

There are many things to see in Milan, even though it's winter and Tuscany is so much better in the summer, so if I were you, I would shorten my stay in Tuscany and stay more days in Milan. They have cathedrals, museums, castles and piazzas and they all deserve a visit. Stay at least 2-3 days in Milan.

tarquin... you are welcome, though i was just using it as a reference, we LOVE this place. it's so very affordable and the location is wonderful. however, as i said, it's not the least bit fancy. (not sure whether there are phones in the rooms.) it is a loud street (well, it's milan) but i like to put in earplugs and sleep with the windows wide open. sheets are clean, breakfast is passable. the price can't be beat.